the post about my butt.

I’ve got a lot to discuss today, and all of comes right back to one thing: my butt. Let’s begin, shall we?

1. Slow running kicks my butt.

I spent another week of zone 2 runs per coach’s orders.

Now, let me just say, I am but a meager wanna-be at this point. I am still in school learning the ways of the body. I have only half-ass trained my way through my 4 marathons. When it comes to 5k’s I get lucky, but for the most part, I don’t know what I’m doing. Coach Jeff on the other hand, has been coaching athletes almost as long as I’ve been alive. He’s an ex elite with more degrees and certifications than I can count. So when Coach tells me to do something, I do it. When he tells me that running slow now will make me run faster later, I believe him. Even if it feels like the most counterproductive thing I’ve ever done. I believe, deep down, this is gonna work, and make my first triathlon totally kick booty. Heck, even Mark Allen agrees, and he pretty much owns this sport, right?

Today was the most gorgeous day of 2010. Well, the most gorgeous day that I haven’t spent trapped in a classroom that is. After a morning at the beach with the boys (yes, go ahead and hate me, I paid my dues spending 21 years in New England, haha), I set out for a 1 hour, zone 2 run. It was BEAUTIFUL. So beautiful, I was nearly skipping to the music on my ipod instead of running. That is, until the Garmin yelled at me. Don’t skip, Heather, it gets you too excited. *sigh*.

Every time I started to fall into a zone, my legs tried their darnedest to fall into theirs. And then the Garmin would yell at me again. HEART RATE TOO HIGH it shouted (ok, beeped) at me. The more time that went on, the slower my legs were forced to go to stay in the zone. At one point, I was CRAWLING along at a 10:30 pace, and the stupid Garmin told me I was going to fast. So, as per instructed by coach, if I can’t get my heart rate down, walk. Do you know how silly I felt having to stop and walk on a run when i wasn’t even tired? I couldn’t help but laugh.

Maybe I need to lay off the caffeine.

On these long slow runs I try to picture the Krebs cycle in my body like a bunch of newbie assembly line workers. Completely inefficient, but with all of this zone 2 training they will be kicking butt in no time. Look out, bonus checks! No seriously, I try to imagine that months from now, I will be at my “comfortable” pace of mid 8’s to 9’s , but in zone 2.

And months from now, I will look back and laugh at how slow running kicked my butt SO much more than regular running ever did.

Alas, this week the training really begins, and I’m sure by the time my next zone 2 run rolls around I’ll be very thankful!

2. cycling HURTS my butt

SERIOUSLY you guys, when do you get used to this? I’m sorry but these padded tri-shorts are a joke. Kind of like someone throwing me one of Rowen’s arm swimmies if I was drowning in the ocean. Thanks for the well meaning gesture, buuuuttt….I’m still drowning.

Thursday night called for a 90 minute spin. I was super excited as a) I love my new bike, and b) the kids went to bed early, so I could ride my bike and enjoy a little MTV in peace. Well, while my enthusiasm did not waiver, I’m not going to lie that when Rowen came downstairs BEGGING for a sippy cup at the 45 minute mark, I was super excited to get OFF of that darn seat.

When I bought my bike, I tried out a couple different seats. I chose one specifically designed for women, with a groove in the seat that the bike shop guy assured me would prevent my lower extremities from going numb (preventing pinched nerves I’m guessing?) That’s nice and all, and I’m sure some day I’ll appreciate it, but for now, a numb leg would have been a welcome distraction from the bruises I now have in the nether regions.

Are you noticing a trend here? Patience, Heather, work on your patience. All in good time, you will be faster and have buns of steel, resilient to any amount of time in the saddle!

3. What’s a princess to do with her butt?

2 weeks from today is the Disney Princess Half marathon. I am SO excited. But in true princess fashion, I am torn. Whatever shall I wear? Holly and I spent a few hours last weekend picking out supplies and crafting our very own princess tutus. They are AMAZING. Now, I realize that this idea is far from original, and I will surely be one of thousands of tutu-ed runners,but really, when else will I have this opportunity? That’s what I thought. Plus my tutu is way better than everyone elses. I’m just saying.

But, as the race day gets closer, and the disappointment from the cancellation of Myrtle Beach half marathon lingers, I’m debating my strategy for race day. I’d like to set a PR. I’d also like to run in a tutu and stop for photo ops with all of the characters. But then again…I’d like to set a PR.

SO, rambling aside, anyone know where I can get a **HOT PINK** running skirt? You know, in case I go for the try and PR option (I’m telling you this tutu ain’t gonna cut it if I need to focus, haha). Does anyone have the pink skirt from http://www.runningskirts.com/ ? It says “Haute pink” but really, how “haute” is it? Becuase it’s gotta match my shoes.

Quit snickering guys, this is the PRINCESS half marathon. Let me be girly for once.

Notice a guy is first to respond to a post about your butt?! OK, I so want to make a LOT of butt jokes, but I won’t. But I will hurry up and post this so I’m first! Ummm, I hope your butt issues go away quickly. Run the Disney Princess Half Marathon for FUN! Stop and pose for pictures and wear the tutu. Go for a PR another race. However, the pink running skirt idea intrigues me. That wasn’t meant to scare you, OK?! It was a JOKE! Oh, and I live in CT and we’re supposed to get more snow this week. Luckily you mentioned you lived in the Northeast for 21 years so I can’t be hating you for your warm weather beach comment!

runningskirts.com skirts are the bomb…I have 3 and will be getting a 4th plaid skirt when I meet a bunch of gals in Vegas in Dec. for the marathon.

As for the saddle issues…different shorts could help, but changing your saddle angle might be key–tipping the nose slightly up or down can help put the weight on your sit-bones, instead of the girly bits. A firmer saddle is better, too. Anything super squishy is going to put more pressure on your soft parts, instead of allowing your butt bones to bear your weight.

I agree that running slow is HARD! When I had to slow down I had to run 7 min k’s to keep my HR low enough and the next day my butt and thighs ached! It seems silly that it can be harder to run slow than the tempo you’re used to – but it is.

A) I love that you think about the Kreb’s cycle going on in your body!B) I had no idea you were doing the princess half!C) I was the lucky winner of Tall Mom’s giveaway for the tutu TMB made so I’m wearing that, but its short and I’m having a hard time trying to find the perfect shorts or skirt too. Decisions decisions on what to wear…

Wow I seriously felt like you were writing about my last week…Coach and I have been struggling with HR zones lately too…and ugh it’s been a long week…oh and the butt issue man do I feel you there! Good luck with HR zones and butt issues…I’m right here with you!

I’m very interested in this HR zone training you are doing! I’ll try it based on your results. 🙂

Have fun at the Princess Half! (Is everybody doing that run or what?!) Definitely save the PR for another day. This race is all about FUN! I’ll be running a half in Vegas that day but my thoughts will be with all my Princess friends!

Hey, Heather!! I struggle with zone 2 too, but I really need to figure out how to get my Garmin to beep at me when I go too high!! Much easier than checking every minute!

As far as the saddle goes, if you are using the trainer for now, I would go with a cycle short over tri shorts. Once you get outside, it gets a lot better because you will move around a little more instead of just sitting in one place for 90 minutes. Oh, and some good lube does wonders…I like Aquaphor. Good luck!!

I started training via heart rate last summer, and it’s the single best thing I could have ever done for my running. It will probably take you 4-6 to notice your zone 2 speed increasing, but then you will have concrete “results” for your hard work. I run in zone 2 for all of my runs except speed work and I’ve noticed some huge improvements. keep it up!

I just came across your blog from another running blog… I too am running the Disney Princess Half — in a pink running skirt….Nike has tons of cute HOT pink running skirts. There are lots of different shades of pink, some are tennis skirts, but they all have like a short inside in them and make the perfect running skirt! Have a great run!

Heather – as usual great, great stuff. You know Danica (Chic Runner) ran the Malibu Marathon in a pink tutu a couple months ago … she blogged about it on her site.

You might want to read her post before going with the tutu … It didn’t sound like a lot of fun – think CHAFFING (I’m sure you will rock it whatever way you decide).

The bike seat will get better – I’m now up to 1:15:00 before I start to get sore on teh trainer – used to be 45:00 …. so it does get better, but I agree. Those padded shorts don’t do it for me either – I think I just have a skinny little butt.

Try tilting the seat differently. I like the nose being very slightly down personally. Or try a different saddle. The Specialized Jett is pretty good if you’re mostly riding the hoods. (a lot of people love this saddle. It’s similar to the men’s Taupe, and kinda similar to the women’s Ruby gel saddle, but a little cheaper.) Jett and Ruby come in different widths too.

If you’re riding aero, try the Adamo racing saddle (which comes in hot pink). http://www.ismseat.com/products_racing.htm I like those saddles because there’s not just a dent in the middle, there’s a cutout. No pressure on the middle down there.

Kendra, that’s funny…and it’s definitely a YMMV thing–I had a pair of the SSS shorts and the chamois didn’t work for me at all. My sitbones fell directly on the seam in front of the widest part of the chamois and the chamois ended up nearly covering my sitbone, even if I tried yanking them up in the front. I’m most fond of the PI Symphony Cut short (with the Elite 3D chamois)–same 6″ inseam as the SSS, but the chamois fits my shape better. It’s also narrower through the crotch than a lot of other shorts, so it doesn’t feel so bulky. Even 2 model years of the same short can have different chamois, as I found with the current Sugoi Evolution short and the version from a year or two ago. The new one is seamless, but much denser.

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Meet Heather

I'm Heather, mom of two, ACSM Certified Exercise Physiologist, and an overzealous athlete who cannot focus on a single discipline, so I train for all of them at the same time. When in doubt, I run...and then write about it. Read More…

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